You can't assume that a lower profile tire will give you better handling than a stock tire. The compliance in the sidewalls is considered when the suspension is tuned - particularly for sports cars and especially for sports cars designed or tuned by Lotus. The sidewall is factored in to the spring rate and the shock absorber bounce and rebound characteristics. It is also considered when setting toe, caster and camber. You will definitely change the handling by going with a wheel and tire combination that is different than what the suspension was designed for. Without doing the math you can't know if the change is for better or worse. -- Mike -------------- Original message from nicholden@xxxxxxxxx: -------------- > > > > Agreed David on most of what you say. My point was though if you go > wider you must go with a lower profile which will retain the same > rolling diameter thus not effecting the speedo, final drive ratio at > the wheels etc. Back in 81 low profile tyres wern't as readly used > and if so were very expensive. It stands to reason that you will get > better handeling from a lower profile tyre due to the lack of un- > wanted side wall movement through a corner. My car has 255's on it > now and shows no sign of clearance problems and in my view looks a > lot better with a fat tyre under the guards. I am going to replace > them still with a 255 but the correct proflie to match the original > rolling diameter. I will let you know how it turns out! > > Cheers Nick 10927 > > Date: Wed, 15 Dec 2004 00:16:52 -0000 > From: "David Teitelbaum" > Subject: Re: Tire Replacement / SIZES > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] To address comments privately to the moderating team, please address: moderators@xxxxxxxxxxx For more info on the list, tech articles, cars for sale see www.dmcnews.com To search the archives or view files, log in at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/dmcnews Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/dmcnews/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: dmcnews-unsubscribe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/